Labour leaders expresses concern over Sports Direct

Labour leader Ed Miliband has voiced his concern over working conditions at Sports Direct in Shirebrook following Chad’s recent revelations that a worker collapsed on site with a blood clot on his brain.

Mr Miliband was in Hucknall this week to speak with local voters in the Sherwood constituency, and take questions.

He said he was particularly concerned with local employer Sports Direct and its headquarters on Brook Park East.

Labour had a plan, he said, to end the practice of zero-hours contracts to ensure people who worked regular hours had regular contracts.

Chad exclusively reported that 52-year-old worker Guntars Zarins collapsed during a shift at Sports Direct after complaining of feeling ill.

He had been felt unwell in the days up to his collapse, but feared he could lose his job if he took a day off.

The family Mr Zarins, who is now slowly recovering in Queen’s Medical Centre, spoke out about working conditions at the factory, which employs around 5,000 people.

They said that a ‘strike’ system is in place in which workers are fired if they receive three.

However, there are suggestions that workers are handed strikes for minor misdemeanours, such as taking too long when going to the toilet, and even taking days off sick.

Many of those who work on the site are thought to be on zero-hour contracts, are often foreign, and are supplied through agencies.